Before this French Open, there have not been many references to the story of how Perry won the 1935 tournament in between squiring an actress all around Paris.

That we have not been hearing much about Perry is more a commentary on how Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have moved ahead of the field, less on whether Murray has improved or not on this surface since last season’s French Open, as he patently has.

Clearly, the man who has shown the most improvement on the red brick dust this year is Djokovic.

But no less of a clay-smeared authority than Bjorn Borg, a winner of six French Open titles, and arguably the greatest talent to have appeared at Roland Garros, told Telegraph Sport that Murray has been playing the best clay-court tennis of his life this spring in reaching the semi-finals in Monaco and Rome.

“Murray’s tennis in Monte Carlo and Rome was very encouraging, and that’s probably the best we have seen of him on clay in his career,” Borg said.

“He had a rough time after the Australian Open, and he was struggling with his form, but his tennis on the clay has helped him before the French Open, and then Wimbledon. I can see him having a good tournament in Paris.”

A good tournament for Murray would mean reaching the semi-finals for the first time, where he would expect to play Nadal.

Strange to think, but it has been clay, supposedly the surface that suits him least, that has revived Murray’s season. The Scot, who starts in Paris against French qualifier Eric Prodon, arrived at the Monte Carlo Country Club last month without a victory since January’s Australian Open.

After making the semi-finals, he took a set off Nadal, and if the effects of a cortisone injection had not worn off, and he had not suddenly felt the pain in his elbow, the final set could have got very interesting.

In Rome, Murray was within two points of defeating Djokovic in the semi-finals – it was the closest anyone has come in the last six months to beating the Serbian.

Some would suggest that was not a proper clay-court breakthrough for Murray, since he did not actually beat Djokovic, just as did not actually beat Nadal in Monaco, and that if he is going to truly establish himself as a contender on this surface than he must go deep into this slam and at least make the last four. There is some truth to that.

Murray showed in Rome that he was not a clay-court lightweight, but anyone ranked fourth in the world should surely be judged primarily at the slams.

Murray has reached a quarter-final in Paris, but only once, in 2009, and he lost that match to Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez.

To prepare for the French Open, Murray has had help from Darren Cahill, the coach provided by the Briton’s clothing supplier adidas, but as soon as the tournament starts the Australian will have a further commitment working as a television commentator.

The draw computer was kind to Murray, as he starts against an opponent who has never won a match at a grand slam, and if he beats Prodon, which he surely should, he would meet one of two other players from the qualifying tournament, Italy’s Simone Bolelli or Canada’s France Dancevic.

After a possible third-round match with Milos Raonic, the Canadian with a 150mph serve, and a possible fourth-round match with either Serbia’s Viktor Troicki or Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov, he could play Austria’s Jurgen Melzer in the last eight and then Nadal, Majorca’s world No 1 and the defending champion, in the semi-finals.

Get that far into the tournament, and the subject of Britain’s last men’s champion in Paris would have to be broached.